Networks and the Public Sphere

Abstract

At the end of the last century, many sociologists and communication theorists welcomed the arrival of social networks as a decisive step toward what was considered to be a revolution in representative democracy. Twenty years later, the signs of apprehension multiply not only because of the decline of the public sphere induced by that phenomenon, but also because of the intrusive way some states are using it in the struggle for international hegemony. Regardless of how it has been considered, there is no doubt that networks represent a historical change in the configuration of the public sphere and, therefore, in the relationship between society and political power. This presentation aims to analyze how this change departed from the (until recently, hegemonic) paradigm in which traditional media used to control the representation of public opinion concerning the political system.